Dozens Sustain Injuries As 2 PDP Factions Clash At Party Secretariat In Imo

By IGNATIUS OKPARA, Owerri

The secretariat of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP in Owerri, the Imo State capital, was on Saturday thrown into pandemonium, as members of two factions of the party engaged themselves in a free-for- all fight.

PDP in the state has been in a serious crisis since 2015 general elections, a development that led to the emergence of two factions.

While the former state chairman, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie, is leading one of the faction,Mr. Vitalis Okafor, is heading a caretaker committee set up by the national body of the party.

AFRICAN EXAMINER recalled that Okafor’s Caretaker Committee was inaugurated on January 29, 2016 to oversee the affairs of the troubled party for a period of three months, following the expiration of the tenure of Anyaehie.

Trouble however, started when Chief Anyaehie, led faction stormed the secretariat and attempted to disrupt a meeting convened by the Okafor led group, an action that was resisted vehemently by the caretaker committee chair and his supporters, leading to a free- for -all- fight.

Our Correspondent gathered that dozens of both factions reportedly sustained injuries during the fracas, before armed policemen arrived the secretariat and barricaded the premises, as well as dispersed members of the two groups.

Shortly after the arrival of the security men, Anyaehie and his supporters were said to have driven out of the premises in a long convoy.

Speaking with newsmen, Okafor accused Anyaehie of being responsible for the wrangling within the party.

He accused him of scheming to perpetuate himself in office, adding that the meeting was convened to brief members of the party on the latest development in the legal battle between his committee and the Anyaehie faction.

Okafor said Anyaehie’s tenure had since expired as pronounced by the Party’s National Executive Council, NEC which subsequently installed his caretaker committee to preside over the affairs of the party for three months.

The caretaker committee chairman, urged members of the party to remain calm and law abiding and to go to their various council Areas and spread the news that the Anyaehie-led executive had been rejected.

He added that,“It is regrettable that somebody, who parades himself as a party Chairman could engage thugs to disrupt a meeting authorised by the National Publicity Secretary of our party, Chief Oliseh Metu.’’

According to him, “The people of the state and the PDP have rejected them because they have failed; yet, they do not want to read the writing on the wall” he stated.